The present invention relates to a process and apparatus for rolling and wrapping a cylindrical bale of crops. Specifically, a roll baling press is described having a rolling chamber which includes a plurality of rotating conveyor elements disposed on the interior thereof, and further includes a wrapping unit for supplying material for wrapping the rolled crops.
In a known process for rolling and wrapping a cylindrical bale of crops, in accordance with German Pat. No. DE-OS 29 30590, a rolling press is provided which will wrap the circumference of a rolled bale by starting the loose end of the wrapping material into rolling relationship with the bale. However, the process described in the aforementioned reference has the disadvantage that the actual rolling process lasts a relatively long time and a relatively large amount of wrapping material is used. Additionally, the feeding of crops to the rolling press must be interrupted for at least one full bale rotation, and for a time thereafter, during which the covering part of the wrapping material is applied. Rolling presses which include antechambers preceding the rolling press are also subject to a disadvantage in that the antechamber must be inordinately large because of the long interruption time for the crop feed to the rolling chamber. For roll baling presses without an antechamber, the feeding of crops must be interrupted. The foregoing difficulties have led to the design of the present invention, whereby a process and apparatus for rolling and wrapping cylindrical bales of crops are provided which includes a short time of interruption of the crop feed to the rolling chamber.